#3 Want to find family in Mexico? What you need to get started

A challenge that people experience in trying to find someone living in Mexico is just not having enough information or not knowing where to get started gathering information. This post will give you the fundamentals you will need to gather information to find people in Mexico.

You've probably already done a lot of Mexico genealogy research. I’m sure you've tried many ways to find the information you need to find someone in Mexico, from searching the Internet to speaking to friends and family. You may have been searching online for hours and hours. You may have talked to relatives or friends of the person you are searching for, but you just have not gotten the information you need and are not able to find this person living in Mexico.

Let’s start with the fundamentals of what information you should be searching for.

Your first goal should be to have the complete name of the person you are looking for. Let’s use the name Juan Carlos Garcia Gonzalez as an example.

If you have a friend who has a name like Juan Carlos, that is his name. In English we might separate out two names. Someone named Billy Bob may also be called Bob or Billy. However, in Mexico Juan Carlos is this person’s name. It’s not correct to call him Juan or to him Carlos. His name is Juan Carlos. Be aware of this because having the complete and full name is very important in your search and will help you to more quickly locate this person.

The complete name is not only their first name(s) but also both of their last names. In Spanish a person has two last names. The first last name in Spanish is the name of the father (for example: Garcia). Gonzalez is the second last name and this is the equivalent of our mother’s maiden name. By putting the two together and you have a complete name. Doing Mexico genealogy can often be easier because the two last names minimize the chance of accidentally researching someone else's family lineage.

You can also discover this information by talking to every relative this person has. Ask questions such as where did this person come from. Ask how they ended up in the United States. Ask where they went to school or where they vacationed as they were growing up. Different questions can help trigger memories and details that will help you find the information and the person you are looking for.

Saludos,




Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Find Relatives In Mexico

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